House Party is Inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry
To celebrate House Party’s induction into the National Film Registry, Reginald Hudlin recounts the making of the film’s famous dance battle.
To celebrate House Party’s induction into the National Film Registry, Reginald Hudlin recounts the making of the film’s famous dance battle.
Variety | BreAnna Bell
Reginald Hudlin has joined forces with AWA Studios to create a series of original comic book stories that will be simultaneously developed for graphic fiction, film, television and other mediums.
Already on their schedule is a slew of upcoming franchises, with the first title set for release in late 2023. Written and curated by Hudlin, both parties will cooperate in the development of projects from ideation to film and TV adaptation. Each project will be centered around an original story with an emphasis on diverse characters.
The partnership serves as a reunion for Hudlin, the former president of entertainment for BET Networks, and Alex Alonso, AWA co-founder and chief creative officer. The two first worked together during Hudlin’s six-year run writing Marvel’s comic series “Black Panther,” at which time Alonso was editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. Hudlin’s run on the series helped elevate the character to mainstream cultural relevance, adding momentum behind the global film franchise. The duo came together again when Hudlin became the first Black creator to pick up the Spider-Man helm.
“Axel and I have a long history of incredible work together and I am excited to break ground on these new projects with him and for the AWA team to bring fans original stories centered around heroes from underrepresented backgrounds,” said Hudlin. “AWA’s bold vision for storytelling and putting creators first is the future of the business and I’m looking forward to showing fans what we can create together.”
Last month, AWA announced that Hudlin has joined its newly formed creative council – a team of creatives including J. Michael Straczynski, Al Madrigal and Mike Deodato Jr. The purpose behind the council is to provide guidance to AWA’s roster of writers and artists to help promote a diversity of contemporary storytelling perspectives, putting projects in an opportune position to be scaled across the entertainment ecosystem.
“Reggie and I share so much in common in terms of editorial goals and wanting to bring fresh, diverse voices and representation to the industry. I am excited to collaborate with him again to build on the success we had in the past with ‘Black Panther’ and ‘Spider-Man’ with a new slate of original stories,” said Alonso.
In a statement, AWA studios co-chair and president Matthew Anderson said: “At AWA, we seek partners who will help us challenge the industry norm and work with us to develop projects that showcase the unique way we empower creators with ownership and control over their stories. Our partnership with Reggie aims to bring new talents to the fore as we work together to grow these stories into cross-media franchises.”
Among the popular titles in Hudlin’s catalog are “Sidney,” “House Party,” “Boomerang,” “Marshall,” “The Black Godfather,” and “Safety,” as well as produced movies including “Django Unchained” and series including “Phat Tuesday,” “Friday Night Vibes,” “The Boondocks” and the “Black Panther “animated series. In his next project, Hudlin will direct the holiday film “Candy Cane Line,” starring Eddie Murphy, for Prime Video.
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AWA Studios, the content startup that develops graphic novels with the hopes of seeding larger entertainment franchises, has assembled a brain trust of prominent writers and directors who will help the company nurture original ideas across a range of platforms.
AWA Studios has enlisted Reginald Hudlin, Gregg Hurwitz, Laeta Kalogridis, Joseph Kosinski, Al Madrigal and J. Michael Straczynski to serve on the company’s Creative Council. The council’s charter is for those established players to use their experience and their connections to help AWA writer and graphic artists “unleash the full potential of their characters and stories, providing a diversity of contemporary storytelling perspectives and putting projects in the best position to be scaled across the entertainment ecosystem,” per AWA.
The company, started in 2018 with backing from investors that include James Murdoch and Elisabeth Murdoch, is focused on producing graphic novels that can then be developed as TV, film or digital media franchises. Kosinski, red hot off his success as the director of “Top Gun: Maverick,” is attached to direct AWA’s first big film project, “Chariot,” which was acquired in 2021 by Warner Bros. The spy-themed thriller is based on the AWA novel by Bryan Edward Hill and will be produced with Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps Entertainment.
Madrigal, a multi-hyphenate known for his work as an actor, writer, showrunner, podcaster and more, published a graphic novel, ”Primos,” with AWA earlier this year. All of the council members were chosen for their familiarity with graphic novels and genre fare. Straczynski is one of the modern pioneers of never-ending media properties with the cult-fave “Babylon 5” sci-fi universe he created in the mid-1990s for first-run syndication. More recently, he worked with the Wachowskis on the out-there Netflix drama “Sense8.” Kalogridis is known for her work on “Avatar,” among many other projects. Hurwitz is an author and screenwriter (“Sweet Girl,” “Orphan X”).
AWA was founded by a group of Marvel and DC Comics alums. Former Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso is co-founder and chief creative officer of AWA. Zach Studin, formerly of John Wells Prods. and Lionsgate, heads the Los Angeles-based movie and TV development arm. Alonso has a long relationship with Hudlin, having tapped the director to write Marvel’s “Black Panther” comics in the early 2000s.
Matthew Anderson, co-chairman and president of AWA Studios, says the graphic fiction focus gives the company an edge.
“When trying to push something highly original, graphic fiction allows you a lot of freedom to push the idea,” Anderson tells Variety. “We like to say we have an unlimited special effects budget. We get fan reaction so fast, it’s amazing. Generally, we like to develop the concept in graphic fiction first.”
AWA’s pitch to creatives is that they will give writers and artists a much bigger say in the long-term development plan for their properties, as well as a bigger cut of profits. AWA has about 20 full-time employees spread across New York and L.A. The company’s investors include James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems, Sister (the partnership of Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider and Jane Featherstone) and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Anderson acknowledges that AWA’s pitch isn’t unique at a time when a bunch of investment dollars are going into next-generation content ventures (Peter Chernin’s North Road Co., Range Media Partners, Candle Media, et al). But AWA does have its advantages within this vibrant market for talent. The connections that AWA’s investors bring for content production and distribution are significant. So are the web of industry relationships and depth of content production experience that members of the Creative Council bring to be the table, Anderson says.
“We want to be a source of gravity for creators, a place where they feel they have a home,” he says.
“There are a lot of amazing writers and artists out there who have a choice between going to a place that is 100% creator owned where it’s all on you and you have no support, or getting a big payment upfront but owning nothing. What we have is the best option down the middle. Creators retain an ownership stake in their work for the long term and they get really professional support from people who will help them and fight for their ideas.
“It’s a really fun time to be in the business if you can begin to shape some new models,” Anderson says. “There’s a true hunger out there for really great, original material.”
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During DC Comics’ “Jim Lee & Friends” panel at New York Comic Con on Oct. 7, the publisher gave fans a first look at the Milestone 30th Anniversary Special, which releases in 2023. The one-shot features contributions from Chuck Brown (Bitter Root, Black Manta), Stephanie Williams (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons, Trial of the Amazons), Denys Cowan (Batman Confidential), Nikolas Draper-Ivey (Static: Season One), Yasmin Flores Montanez and more. DC revealed during the event that Draper-Ivey will be writing and providing art for a story starring Virgil and Terry. An incredible variant cover created by Draper-Ivey further sees the two characters, the former of whom debuted in 1993’s Static #1 and the latter in 1999’s Batman Beyond #1 (following his first apperance on the animated Batman Beyond television series in 1999), cross paths.
Draper-Ivey also revealed additional news set within the Dakotaverse when announcing another new title, Icon vs. Hardware, to celebrate the 30th anniversay of the Milestone Universe. Launching on Feb. 14, 2023, and spinning out of the Milestones in History anthology, Icon vs. Hardware is a new five-issue limited series co-written by Reggie Hudlin and Leon Chills. “[The series] pits two of Milestone’s core super heroes against each other for the future of Dakota, as Hardware discovers a time machine and puts it to work altering the history of the world,” DC teased.
Draper-Ivey additionally revealed new artwork from Static: Shadows of Dakota, an upcoming six-issue sequel to Static: Season One. Initially announced during San Diego Comic-Con and launching on Feb. 7, 2023, Static: Shadows of Dakota is written by Vita Ayala and features art by Draper-Ivey and ChrisCross. The synopsis for the first issue reads, “Static is back! Though Virgil and his friends might have been able to stop the government’s off-the-books prison operations in Dakota, a powerful new threat lurks in the shadows. The mysterious Ebon is cutting a bloody swath through the underworld on a single-minded quest to find his brother. Against this backdrop of exploding violence, innocent people are finding themselves in the crossfire. The breakout creative team of Nikolas Draper-Ivey and Vita Ayala have returned to make Static’s life, and Dakota City, very complicated indeed—you’ve never felt shocks like these!”
